The Volta ao Algarve organisers put a 24km ITT into the parcours at the last minute when it became known 'Big Tex' would be riding. So did Armstrong, testing a slightly new bike as well as a new, adjusted riding position, rise to the occasion?

One of the earliest riders down the ramp was George Hincapie, using the Tour of Algarve as preparation for the Spring Classics season. Indeed, he was quick as ever, despite a rough crash yesterday, and set a leading time of 32 minutes 41 seconds. However, another crasher Floyd Landis set a blistering pace, destroying his time by 47 seconds to take a new lead. But just minutes after that, his regular captain and five-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong edged him out of first place on the road, beating the ex-Mercury man by a mere second, for a time of 31'53" over 24km.

The performance of Rabobank espoir Thomas Dekker must be noted too - with his 20th birthday over 6 months away, he showed the form that saw him beat fellow young gun Fabien Cancellara in last year's Ster Elektrotoer time trial and finished 18 seconds in arrears of Landis - at that point, second. His teammate Joost Posthuma also took ninth at the finish - the tour organisers will not regret inviting these youngsters, who've all really "grabbed their spoons" (to quote Ross Geller from Friends) and performed impressively here.

The best Portuguese rider today was Joaquim Andrade from Wurth-Bom Petisco-Tavira; he briefly held third behind Landis and Posthuma, and finished the day sixth half a minute behind the winner. He was beaten by the blink of an eye by Cofidis' Jimmy Engoulvent, who is proving to be a shrewd signing. Michael Barry, who spoke to the Daily Peloton recently, also showed himself well, finishing 40 seconds behind. As more riders arrived in Tavira, the chances of Lance Armstrong being beaten looked less likely. Victor Hugo Pena, the winner last year, finished twelve seconds behind for third-on-the-road, but it stayed that way overall, as the leaders faltered with a slight headwind.

Candido Barbosa, the leader, took eleventh exactly a minute behind the US Postal man, but it is not what he'll have been wanting, knowing that - although he is in much better form - he is built better for sprinting than climbing. And other contenders were behind him: Milaneza's Victor Gamito and David Bernabeu, Antarte-Rota do Moveis' star rider David Plaza, yesterday's stage winner Martin Garrido (Barbot) and Stuart O'Grady were all in the top 20, within 90 seconds of him. However, nobody got close to the Posties - EVERY Postal rider finished in the top thirty, with five in the top ten, and a win for Armstrong to round it off.

This is Armstrong's first win since an epic triumph atop Luz Ardiden last July, and it will erase less fond memories of his second-place in the 2003 Tour of Murcia TT stage - another warm-up race for him - where he was beaten by Javier Pascual Llorente by two seconds.
Some may say to wait until Armstrong is in 'real' European competition, against tougher opposition, where he finished a lot more anonymously, even in time trials. But, a win is a win, even in a supposed-minor 2.3 race - it must be remembered, whether it Murcia or the Algarve, they all warrant the same amount of UCI points. And Armstrong and the other Posties won't be taking this lightly tonight; I expect everyone in Tavira will be alerted to this fact by loud renditions of ZZ Top!

However, the race will be decided tomorrow atop the Cat 2 climb of Malhao, and it brings the conundrum of which rider will win? Or which Postie - will Armstrong let one of his domestiques, Pena (who won this race last year) or Landis win? 23 riders lie within 2 minutes of him overall, including ace climbers David Plaza and Bernabeu, whilst Victor Gamito and Joaquim Andrade are no slouches uphill either. I can't wait for tomorrow, to see what Armstrong does...